Social Times | 3D projection mapping taking the advertising world by storm

February 8, 2011

3D projection mapping has recently emerged as one of the coolest forms of advertising, with big companies like Nokia, Samsung and BMW projecting beautiful 3D video displays on buildings around the world and sharing their campaigns on the web. 3D projection mapping has become something of a recent obsession for me, as well as for the advertising world. Read more about this technique and how it’s being used by brands after the jump.

A couple of months ago I was picking my mom up from Union Station in Washington, DC. While waiting for her train to arrive I sat outside the train station and noticed that video was being projected across the entire front of the building. Union Station was transformed into the Wild West, a mountain scene and a brick building right before my eyes. As it turns out, the projection was a promotion for a new History Channel show about the history of America. I was intrigued, and when I got home I decided to do some research and found that similar campaigns, and much cooler ones, were going on all over the world.

What is 3D Projection Mapping?

3D projection mapping, according to Wikipedia, “is any method of mapping three-dimensional points to a two-dimensional plane.” Using this technique, video artists are able to match video to buildings that they are projecting on and create cool 3D effects, making it look as though buildings are crumbling, changing their structure and more. It really is amazing. Check out the following clips as examples of phenomenal things that can be done using this technique, and then check out some great 3D projection mapping ad campaigns below.

Samsung 3D Projection Mapping in Amsterdam

I really have no words to describe how amazing Samsung’s 3D projection mapping display in Amsterdam is. They take a building and destroy it, beautify it and transform it. You won’t believe your eyes.

BMW 3D Projection Mapping Singapore

BMW launched a fantastic 3D projection mapping installation in Singapore and it was uploaded to YouTube at the beginning of this month. The campaign is projected on two buildings in an intersection and it is truly breathtaking. The campaign was Asia’s first interactive 3D building projection.

Nokia Ovi Maps – Interactive Projection Mapping

Nokia paired up with interactive Arts and Technology Collective Seeper to create a cool interactive projection installation. Onlookers were incorporated into the projection, and different things happened based on how each person moved.

ACDC Vs Iron Man 2

Following their collaboration with Nokia, Seeper was asked to create a 3D projection installation for Sony to promote the new ACDC Iron Man 2 soundtrack. The installation took place at Rochester Castle. Once again, a clip so phenomenal you won’t believe your eyes!

The great thing about these campaigns is that they really get the attention of passersby (I would kill to see one of these live), but they also capture the attention of people on the web. These clips are just too cool not to go viral and as more and more people find out about 3D projection mapping these clips are sure to garner hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of views on sites like Vimeo and YouTube.

Have you seen 3D projection installations before? What do you think about them and their place in the future of advertising?

Comments (2)

In the movie, Back to the future, Part 2, there’s a scene (Jaws 27 or some such) where a 3D shark image jumps out and attacks Marty. That scene (the movie was released circa 1985) was supposed to be possible in 2015.

That Samsung 3D Projection Mapping in Amsterdam was close enough for me to call that a hit. Now we just need the flying cars and hoverboards and we’re in the Back to the Future future.